Cavaliers Reset
2013-02-21
Unsurprisingly, not much happened for the Cavaliers on trade deadline day. There were a few rumors about a possible Mo Speights-for-a-pick swap, but nothing concrete enough to get excited about. All is placid here at C:TB HQ. Kevin is conked out in an armchair, and Mallory’s half-heartedly trying to beat a difficult Super Meat Boy level. Cavs: The Cat is asleep by my feet as I type this. But before we join Kevin in dreamland, let’s examine what the Cavs have going forward, since we now know what the roster is going to look like for the rest of the season.
Starting Backcourt:
Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters aren’t going anywhere. Saint Weirdo is in the first season of a four-year rookie deal, and Chris Grant will likely extend a max contract offer to Kyrie in the middle of next season that’ll make him a Cavalier until his mid-20s. The children are our future, etc.
Starting Frontcourt:
Alonzo Gee is on the books for $3.25M next year and has a $3.25M team option for the 2014-15 season. Hopefully, the Cavs will make a signing or draft selection that relegates him to the bench sooner rather than later. I think nearly every Cleveland fan has a soft spot in their heart for AG, but he isn’t much more than a decent substitute. After showing considerable growth in his first two seasons with the team, he’s revealing this season that he’s just not good enough to run with your average starting NBA wing.
After this breakout year, I feel terrific about Tristan Thompson as the Cavs’ starting power forward for the next decade. Like Waiters and Irving, he’s still on his rookie deal, though he obviously won’t get a max extension offer like Irving will, so it remains to be seen if the Cavs will lock him up long-term during next season or wait until he becomes a restricted free agent. At any rate, unless he gets a phenomenally stupid contract offer from another team in the summer of 2015, he’ll be a Cavalier alongside Kyrie and Dion for a long time.
Anderson Varejao’s future with the team is precarious, though perhaps not as precarious as it was a few months ago. Cavs fans have always seemed split down the middle on this issue, but I was in favor of trading Varejao before he got hurt, even if it meant doing so for eighty cents on the dollar. I’ve reformed my position, though: I think this last injury drove down his value to the point that the Cavs are better off rolling the dice that he’ll stay healthy than shipping him out for a pittance. Regardless of whether Varejao can stay healthy, the team needs to start grooming a future starting center. (Unless you think Tyler Zeller is that guy; I don’t think he is.) Wild Thing will be 31 by the start of next season, when the Cavs will pay him $9.1M. That’s a bargain if he plays his best for 70 games; it’s a sunk cost if he ends up sitting out two-thirds of the season again. If he does stay healthy, he also has a $9.8M team option for the 2014-15 season.
Rotation Players:
Tyler Zeller is a backup center. That’s a fine thing to be. You can do worse with the 18th pick in the draft. I look forward to a future in which T-Zell steps off the bench for 18 minutes a game, knocks down a couple open jumpers, draws a charge, and grabs a few rebounds. Watching him have to match up against starting NBA centers for 30 minutes every night is rough. I feel for him. He’s on a rookie deal, obviously, so he’ll be a cheap bench player for the Cavs through the 2015-16 season.
Marreese Speights has a player option he can pick up this summer that will pay him $4.5M next season, but the conventional wisdom dictates that he’ll probably turn that down to become an unrestricted free agent and guarantee himself more money. It’s hard to know what the Cavs will do with Speights now that they’ve elected not to flip him for an asset. Is keeping him an indication that they intend to sign him in the offseason or did they just get lowballed when shopping him? How you feel about Speights going forward probably hinges around what sort of contract he’s on. Is two years and $12M palatable? Is four years and $21M a deal-breaker? It all depends on how much you value a bench big with a nice jumper and a nasty streak.
The Wayne Ellington situation is less complicated. I don’t see much reason why the Cavs wouldn’t match any reasonable offer Ellington receives in restricted free agency. They could use a spot-up shooter off the bench, and as much as I would like Boobie Gibson to be that player, Ellington is a taller, less frequently injured version of Gibson. I think unless an opposing GM confuses Ellington for O.J. Mayo, Ellington will be in wine and gold for the next couple of seasons.
C.J. Miles will likely be back next season at $2.25M. Do you really want me to break down C.J. Miles? I refuse. You can’t make me. (Fine: he shoots too much, and I kind of hate him. Moving on.)
Shaun Livingston has been a revelation at the backup point guard spot. After picking through the scrap heap—Donald Sloan, Jeremy Pargo—it appears that Cavs have found their man. What I like best about Livingston is how well he complements the rest of the backcourt because of his versatility. He’s a nice defensive player who can guard multiple positions, and he’s happy to play off the ball or run the point. You can put him in three-guard lineups if you want. He just fits in well on this team, and he rarely makes mistakes. He’s like a guard version of Nick Collison, which is high praise. I hope the Cavs lock him up this offseason.
The Scrap Heap:
Omri Casspi is a restricted free agent but for whatever reason hasn’t been able to crack the rotation. (Okay, I’m being coy: he’s not very good, but the Cavs had the worst bench in the league before Speights and Ellington showed up.) I would imagine he’ll ply his trade elsewhere when the season’s over.
Everyone in Cleveland’s heart sings for Boobie Gibson, I’m sure. He’s overpaid at $4.5M this season simply because he can’t stay on the court. If he wants to sign a one-year or two-year deal at a discount, I’m all for it, but it’s hard to be optimistic about player who has a habit of missing big swaths of seasons.
Luke Walton, friend of Flemish Renaissance painter Pieter Breugel until Breugel passed away in 1569, is a free man after this season. If you put his brain in Andray Blatche’s body, he’d be a borderline all-star, but unfortunately Walton has the body of a particularly athletic gym teacher. I don’t know if he’ll try to prolong his NBA career (perhaps even with the Cavs), go to Europe, or retire, but I’ve noticed that he genuinely seems to get a kick out of playing with this young Cavs team. If I were Byron Scott or Chris Grant, I would ask if he wants to take up a coaching role in the organization whenever he decides to stop playing basketball.
* * * * *
So that’s more or less where the Cavs stand heading into the final third of this season. The obvious holes are at the starting center and small forward slots, but you knew that. What do you think the Cavs should do to patch those deficiencies? What sort of price would you pay for Marreese Speights? Was Sartre right when he argued that a text is not a concrete object, but something produced only through a dialogue between reader and language? Answer in the form of a sonnet.
@ChrisUK http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/hollinger/statistics It’s not Hollinger’s Draft Rater, which projects NBA performance. The longer a guy has been in school the more accurate it is. Since Oladipo is a junior it should in theory be more accurate with him. The only “name” player ahead of Oladipo in college PER is his teammate Cody Zeller. I’m just not that interested in Cody. If they end up drafting 7th or 8th (I doubt that) and McLemore, Bennett, Noel, Oladipo and Len are gone I could talk myself into Cody. Oladipo or Porter might be the best fit for this team. He has a… Read more »
@Corey where do you get college per stats from? I!d be interested to know how the top players in the mocks score.
Dani/Cory
Oladipo is a badass, I say the Cavs bring him and Bazz in for a game of 1 on 1 and whoever wins they draft. Thought about it more today and I think they should just draft him and play small alot. Not that much difference between SG and SF and he rebounds pretty well anyways
A pattern has formed for Chris Grant’s previous two drafts with him taking Waiters and TT as they tested off the charts on projected PER ahead of others who were mocked to them. Victor Oladipo is currently 9th in the nation in PER. I have faith in Grant’s ability to draft and just want him to take the best player available. I dig that SF and C are the two biggest holes on the team, but they have $30 million to address those short comings.
^haha I was trying to figure out why the comment monster liked me so much, I tried sending that comment a million times w different emails, formats, web browsers, etc… *noted, now I know you guys sift through the comment monster’s poop for us, highly appreciated
haha yeah I check it every couple hours and usually a bunch of us keep an eye on it. Often I see 1 or 2 hanging out in there. So I saw 6 and I thought we might be legitimately getting spam, then saw your same comment. What’s funny is when people actually REWRITE the same thoughts but kinda differently. Makes me feel really good they cared enough to keep trying. But yeah, lately we have been much better about rescuing comments more quickly.
I REALLY WANT A NEW COMMENT SYSTEM
I REALLY WANT VICTOR OLAPIDO.
@SwIrving, No sane GM would alter roster decisions based on Gee, but at the same time the Cavs roster with its current personnel needs one thing at starting SF: the best possible defender who can drive down open lanes and hit 3’s once and again — a 3&D guy. And you’re right, it is a stretch to call Gee a 3&D guy at this point, but of all the potential starting SF’s that could (realistically) be traded for/snagged in free agency, the only ones I can think who would shoot better drive-and-kick 3’s don’t play better D than G. The… Read more »
Carson you just fed the comment monster for a year. Hopefully he goes into hibernation. Sorry about that.
@SwIrving, No sane GM would alter roster decisions based on Gee, but at the same time the Cavs roster given its current personnel needs one thing at starting SF: the best possible defender who can drive down open lanes and hit 3’s once and again — a 3&D guy. And you’re right, it is a stretch to call Gee a 3&D guy at this point, but of all the potential starting SF’s that could (realistically) be traded for/scooped in free agency, the only ones I can think who would shoot better drive-and-kick 3’s don’t play better D than G. Forget… Read more »
Interesting, I was trying to find a player in a similar situation to Zeller, and Andrea Bargnani was easily the closest I found based on 6’10+ 21yr+ rookie scoring 8 pts a game and <43fg%. He had incredibly similar rookie year at one year younger. Bargnani scored more, rebounded a lot worse, had a worse Ast/TO ratio, and shot 3's instead of long 2's, but other than that pretty similar. Bargnani being grossly overpaid aside, if Zeller became that type of player down the line, (but a better rebounder, better defender (charges!), and definitely a worse scorer due to long… Read more »
I don’t understand why there is so much pessimism in regards to Zeller. We picked him with the 17th pick in a decent draft, similar to where Speights was picked (16th in 2008), who happens to be a 3rd/4th big man on most teams. Don’t get me wrong, Zeller has struggled at times this year but I also think he has shown some great flashes. When/if he turns into a more consistent player he can’t be any worse than a backup center, I would say that’s his floor. Are we all hoping for much more than that? Of course, but… Read more »
Yeah, I guess I’m just hoping. Speights, I don’t think has been good since his first 2 or 3 games here and Andy is constantly injured. I’m tired of him.
And no, I don’t have to propose a trade. No GM is going to pick up the phone when I call them. I just think they should be traded.
And really, getting a good backup center, if that’s all Zeller is, with the 18th pick in the draft would be fantastic.
SwIrving,
Cols would trade Varejao and Speights for a stick of bubble gum and a charms blow pop, the rational of how they will be leaving the cavs will be interesting at least
Fair enough steve. I can’t be mad at people named steve. I certainly haven’t penciled t-zell in as our answer. My original defense of Zeller, who has certainly been underwhelming, was to the tone the article stating that Zellers future is a bench player so matter of factly. Fact is, we don’t know yet. If the article stated he was probably going to be a backup, that’d be fine. But it doesn’t, it groups him with backups, gives condolences to those who wanted more from the 18th pick, and mentions that we must find our next target to groom into… Read more »
KyrieSwIrving: “Carson, outside of J-Kidd, very few players go from a never-even-been-average-at-3-point-shooting-26-year-old to an above average long range threat.”
Of course, that could just be because they all die before they get that far out on the age curve.
“And I think a lot of the areas we see Waiters struggling are where we see a lot of young players having to adapt to the NBA.” Oh and Zeller struggling at defensive awareness and handling stronger post players can’t be attributed to this? Cause I know the vast majority of young big men usually struggle to adapt in those areas. Yes, Zeller’s jump shot isn’t where we want it and it may not get better, but its not as awful as people make it out to be either, and he was quite effective in college without using it much.… Read more »
Speights I’d say is 50/50.
Varejao will be here. You can count on it.
Josh
Speights and Varejao will not be on the team next year.
I’m inclined to think Zeller will be okay. He’ll be a quality starter by his third year as he fills out and adjusts. I’m not at all worried about him. Here’s how I see our depth chart next year: PG: Irving, Livingston, Waiters SG: Waiters, Ellington, Miles SF: Gee, Robinson III, Ellington PF: Thompson, Speights, Varejao C: Zeller, Varejao, Noel or Len Here’s how I see the draft going down, to make this happen: Cavs end up in the top 5 and take Noel or Len, whichever is available. Assuming the Lakers end up with an 8th seed, we then… Read more »
Right, like I predicted, the argument simply is something to the extent of ‘lets see him develop and see what happens’. That, to put it simply, is a non-answer. You can say that about anyone under 25 in this league if you really wanted to. And you’re right, the study isn’t perfect. I’ll wait for your highly detailed analysis proving it wrong or your admittance that perfect isn’t the enemy of good. If we’re counting on mediocre looking players to break the model curve, we’re going to end up pulling our hair out in frustration. And if it simply was… Read more »
Steve, no matter how long you spend in college, you are still playing against college players. Its very different, especially defensively, when all of a sudden everyone you play against is bigger/better/more athletic than the very best players on the college teams you faced. Pardon me for giving him more than half a season before I come to a conclusion. Some guys can come in and dominate offensively in the NBA right away, but almost no one comes in and dominates defensively right away, and almost everyone that is a decent NBA defender today is much better now than when… Read more »
@SwIrving & Adam: I just respectfully disagree that Alonzo is overrated on defense — he’s powerful and athletic, and the guy picks up a lot of slack for Kyrie and Dion, so he doesn’t always look so good. And advanced stats won’t cover the little things we don’t see off the ball, in transition, etc; I put some degree of faith in Byron Scott’s assessment of his player as a top perimeter defender. At 26 years old, Alonzo might not be “fledgling” anymore, but shooting and defense are two of the facets players actually do tend to continue improvement on… Read more »
JDW – It helps Waiters a lot that is two years younger than Zeller. That is a huge difference in development (and potential development) at this point.
And I think a lot of the areas we see Waiters struggling are where we see a lot of young players having to adapt to the NBA. Being able to harness the athleticism is one of the last skills learned. On the other hand, where Zeller was supposed to succeed, hitting mid range jumpers and grabbing rebounds, are skills that guys take much more seamlessly to the NBA.
What is it about Waiters that people don’t get? Is it that he can get to the hoop against anyone? That he has been shooting 49% over his last ten games? That he’s been getting more calls as he gets used to the NBA? That he isn’t bad from the outside?
Why do people insist on seeing the glass as half empty on Waiters? What did the guy do to you?
Good point about Zeller being older. Beyond that though, he will definitely be a good rotation big guy. So he sin’t shooting or blocking out well AS A ROOKIE. What is it that makes people think going from college to the NBA would be easy?
It’s not. Almost every rookie struggles, even at the stuff they are supposed to be good at. So yeah, I think Zeller will develop just fine. But what do I know, I thought Waiters would develop just fine too and he already is!
Considering that both scouts and advanced metrics like Hollinger’s draft ratings liked Waiters coming out of college, I think the Dejuan Wagner comp is dumb.
And yeah, this draft we’ll be looking SF and C. I think center if Noel or Len is there, if not they’ll probably go SF.
Re: NBA players aging like milk, it’s interesting to me that APM numbers usually indicate the opposite — older players have a greater impact on +/- numbers than their box score stats would lead you to believe. But I guess Wages of Wins bases their analyses on box score stats. Or two of them, anyway, rebounds and fg%. It’s weird to me that Zeller is apparently a divisive player and yet there seems to be agreement that Waiters is the future. Are we watching the same guy? You really have to be accentuating the positive to see a long-term starter… Read more »
I wish I could join everyone in the hope and dream phase of Zeller’s future. He’s not four years from his prime, he’s just about to hit it. http://wagesofwins.com/nba-players-age-like-milk/ The guy spent four years at a top tier college program, there shouldn’t need to be so much of an adjustment period that everyone wants to give him. And besides, it’s not like he’s just having trouble with a quicker game or getting caught out of position defensively. He isn’t shooting or blocking out well, and those are the skills that more easily translate from college to the pros. I know,… Read more »
@Bill, I love Oladipo, But I think we would start him at the 2 and bring Dion off the bench… Backup both guard positions, and Play all three in small ball situations/Coming down the stretch @Carson, Gee has made himself a real player in this league, but I really think he is vastly overrated as a Defensive player, he has a defensive mindset and Byron puts him on the opponent’s best wing/guard because Kyrie/Dion are not committed defenders, He really doesn’t have the quickness to guard smaller players, plays passing lanes well, and guards bigger wings pretty well I could… Read more »
Also regarding my defense of Zeller, that doesn’t mean I’d be opposed to drafting a Center if that’s the best player available with our top 10 pick, but I think SF is definitely our biggest need.
I agree with Vesus, but i do still have a soft spot for Gibson. I don’t want us to sign him, don’t want to see him on the court, but wouldn’t be opposed to having him on a cheap contract to watch from the bench either. Carson, we don’t need or want a ball dominant SF (unless its some sort of transcendent talent now residing on south beach) but a SF who could hit a 3 would be nice. Alonzo Gee is not that (career 33% hitting a career low 31%) . He’s not that young either, at 26 and… Read more »
Agree with people defending Zeller. You would think CtB would learn that players can and do get better.
@ Luis
I sort of agree on Speights. Dude needs to start passing more. You would think playing with Walton and Livingston would help that but maybe not.
Also, if we are following the OKC blueprint, then we absolutely must make the playoffs next season. 8th seed and Miami matchup is fine with me. OKC had a very nice 2nd half run in Durant’s 2nd year and I think they finished with 30 some wins. We should get close to that mark and then snatch a playoff berth in Kyrie’s 3rd year ala OKC and KD.
Vesus, I disagree. Gibson isn’t worth $4 million a year, but I’d like to keep him for $1.5. He’s just a good team guy, and a big CLE supporter. One of the few guys that spoke up when Lebron left. He’s still useful as a 3 pt specialist. A good guy to have in the locker room.
I will never be able to understand why ANYONE ANYWHERE would want Daniel Gibson on this team. He contributes nothing….one of the few players in the league who peaked as a rookie and has been a disaster ever since. Useless player.
Good article, though.
KyrieSwIrving, you just took the words out of my mouth. Way too harsh on Zeller. All he needs is confidence and a bit of weight. When you watch him play, he doesn’t look confident like he did last year in college. He just needs to hit the gym and get used to being on the court. He’ll be a starting center for a decade. For Speights, I wouldn’t tie big money up on him. He doesn’t give a consistent effort. If he takes the option, cool. I can’t see paying more than $5 mill for a streaky 2nd big off… Read more »
Disagree strongly with the sentiments on Alonzo Gee. He’s the starting SF for the long run because A) with decent defenders on the inside, the Cavs need to start at least ONE defensive stopper playing the perimeter; Kyrie and Dion, who save themselves for offense anyway, do not provide much presently, and B) Kyrie and Dion are both excellent scorers who can create shots, etc, and TT and Varejao are active big men who can, as we’ve seen, chip in 10-15 points each per game… For those insisting on starting a scoring SF option, when is this player getting his… Read more »
I think you are being far too harsh on Zeller. The guy may never be a starting caliber center, but to write him off now is premature. The guys biggest weaknesses are exactly what you would expect from a rookie big man (strength and defense). The guy hasn’t had an NBA offseason yet, a time when he can work on his biggest weakness (his literal weakness). He improved significantly every year at UNC in almost every catagory and shows a good work ethic as much as TT does. He’s had a hard (though not horrible) time playing as a starter… Read more »
I’m not against resigning Luke Walton for a minimum contract, just to fill out the team.
EDIT::Of course adding LBJ to a trending upwards young playoff team makes them an INSTANT contender. The absolute key in all of this is the FIRST ROUND DRAFT PICKS THAT DON’T BELONG TO THE CAVS. The crippler for good teams that are maxed out financially is that they always draft at the bottom of the first round. The Cavs will have the ability to be use their own pick as well as a late round lottery pick/mid round pick belonging to another team. To be a playoff team and add legit young talent is what will sustain the whole thing.… Read more »
Cory Hughey: I agree with pretty much everything you just said. The thing I don’t agree with at all is your assertion that Kyrie “has been more engaged defensively. Even Kyrie rejects that notion. Now, I don’t ever expect him to be anything more than serviceable. He will be a legit MVP candidate once the Cavs make the playoffs, but they can’t make the playoffs until he is middle of the pack. Besides, for the Cavs to be any better as a team defensively, he needs to show the effort. Once your best player starts trying on the defensive end,… Read more »
Backcourt is Set
Draft Shabazz Muhummad/Otto Porter with our first pick
Ellington/C.J/Gee pretty good wing backups
Thompson has PF set
Resign speights
Andy Returns
Greg Oden flyer
Zeller gains 15+ pounds in his upper body
Agree with Luis,
Speights, Oden, Andy create a little bit of a minutes crunch but one will get hurt
Exciting team if everything works out…. Development determines playoff chances/spot
Also for those of you who are terrified of the Cavs killing themselves in the lottery because of their improved play it’s pretty doubtful they will climb ahead of the 6th worst record. Detroit is 4 games ahead of them in the East. It’s pretty doubtful the Cavs will climb ahead of Detroit or Toronto (4.5). The Cavs probably will pass Phoenix (.5). As bad as that Kings (1.5) trade was long term, it probably improves them slightly this year. Robinson was giving them nothing. Patterson should be able to stretch the floor and Aldrich will give them a decent… Read more »
Jean-Christian says:
February 21, 2013 at 9:32 pm
“a difficult Super Meat Boy level”
I know what you mean, but that’s still pretty redundant.
What I would like to know is how do you half-heartedly play SMB?
With the natural development of Kyrie, Thompson, Waiters and Zeller they should be able to make the playoffs next year. Dion has already improved greatly from the start of the season. He was phenomenal in the win against the Hornets. Thompson is lightyears more polished on offense than he was at the start of this season. Kyrie’s been more engaged defensively. Zeller got a seat at the adults table when he should have been at the fold out card table, but he should improve as well. They’ll have a bounty of trade assets to add around their young core along… Read more »
Bric, No one more year. It should not take that. A couple of added pieces and the Cavs should be going to the playoffs next year. Kyrie is a budding superstar. You really want to give him a third year of losing basketball dude? Kyrie’s third year should be the year the Cavs make the leap. Barring serious injury to a core player, if the Cavs don’t get the 8th seed at worst next year, then this isn’t working. We are not in the Western Conference. The Cavs can, should and better get an 8th seed next year. That’s the… Read more »
Andy (Wild Thing) is NOT a starting NBA center. He has filled in rather nicely due to not having a starting NBA C, but Andy is a PF. Just MHO.
I really don’t want Speights here. If we draft a big there is only going to be a limited amount of playing time available with Andy, Tristan, Zeller and our drafted taking up most of it, and I don’t think it is in the Cavs best interest to invest a lot of money on Speights. I’m not a big fan of Speights game. Yes he brings in that toughness and grit (that I like) but he also hoists up way to many shots and never (and I truly mean never) looks to pass the ball. He is always forcing shots… Read more »
One more year of development, and this team can compete for playoff berth. Walton is gifted; check his assists/minutes played. He is the finest playmaker the Cavs have had since Andre Miller played here. Bring him back and let him help coach. CJ Miles is a great shooter and a fine slasher. Livingston is an excellent playmaker; Speights uses his body well and has a good touch. All we need is for Zeller, Waiters and Thompson to refine their games, and for Kyrie Irving to begin creating shots for other players occasionally and improve his man defense. If the young… Read more »
“a difficult Super Meat Boy level”
I know what you mean, but that’s still pretty redundant.
Does anyone think the conventional wisdom that Speights will opt-out should be challenged? If GMs were equally convinced he would opt out then he is an expiring contract (valuable), and if he is better than his contract AND expiring he is even more valuable and yet, the Cavs didn’t move him or (at least publicly) have any potential offers for him. I’m not saying he won’t opt out, but I just think this new CBA has GMs very reluctant to overpay for a 3rd or 4th big with an inconsistent jumper. I mean, the Grizzlies flipped him for nothing (albeit… Read more »
I’m thinking that the Cavs might be in a position to keep Speights if he opts out of his current contract. They will have CAP room for next year and might be able to give him a 2-3 year contract with only year one guaranteed. They will have more CAP room than most teams so they can overpay if necessary. I don’t see too many scenarios where he gets a multiyear guaranteed contract from anyone, since most teams will want to keep their CAP space options open for the Great FA Migration of the summer of 2014. Those guaranteed contracts… Read more »
Josh Selby?
Just kidding.
I got to catch Cavs at Wizards at Christmas, and did appreciate seeing Walton coaching our young bigs from the bench–between points, even just momentarily. I thought it was pretty cool, actually.
I love this, from HoopsHype: http://hoopshype.com/salaries/cleveland.htm
(What we like, what we’re stuck with, etc.)
I can see the Cavs looking at Speights as a player they would love to have back for one more year at $4.5 million but they wouldn’t resign him to another contract for $6 million or more per year. It is now pointless to talk about trading Andy because he can’t have any tangible trade value. Andy should be a super sub off the bench on a minute count (20-25) to keep him in the lineup. Can you really spend a quarter of the salary cap on two bench bigs? I wouldn’t. If Speights opts out, I’d wish him well… Read more »
Nice post.
Backcourt is set and looks like it’ll be great
We could use a shiny new center. Hopefully we’ll get one in the draft.
As far as the bench goes, I think we’ll see big changes next year.
“Walton has the body of a particularly athletic gym teacher”
That is fantastic.
I wish Walton all the best.